Thursday's letters

Published: Thursday, March 7, 2013 at 1:00 a.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, March 6, 2013 at 5:16 p.m.

Stop tar-sands pipeline

I am a trustee of the Jefferson Center, a 10-story affordable-housing facility for low-income Sarasota seniors. We have done what we can to fight climate change by installing a $250,000 high-efficiency air conditioning chiller that has reduced our electric bills by $50,000 per year. In my own home, I have installed solar hot water and a high-efficiency pool pump that have cut $100 a month off my electric bills.

Such efforts, however, will be canceled out if President Obama decides to approve the Keystone XL pipeline. According to the Sierra Club, Keystone XL would carry tar sands, the dirtiest fossil fuel on the planet, not crude oil. NASA's leading climate scientist, Dr. James Hansen, has said that if the tar sands project gets going, it will be "game over" for Mother Earth.

Last summer, I saw huge new wind farms in the West. They give me hope that we can still turn from fossil fuels to conservation plus wind and solar. But Keystone XL will undermine these good efforts.

This awful project must be stopped and only the president can stop it. In his State of the Union speech he said climate change was a top priority. Now we will find out if he really means it.

James D. Keeney

Sarasota

Woodward's little to-do

Kathleen Parker, a self-described "right of center" columnist, went one bridge too far with her latest article about journalist Bob Woodward's White House run-in. We have read the emails. There was no threat. It's much ado about nothing.

Woodward is either amazingly thin-skinned or needed attention as a marketing ploy for his latest book. In any case, by making this all about himself, he lost some of the respect he has held in the past.

Baerbel Kavanaugh

University Park

Time to check 2050 plan

Revisiting Sarasota's 2050 Plan may not be such a bad idea. In a constantly changing environment, sometimes tweaks are needed to even the best-laid plans. At this time, raising public fears about increased traffic congestion and more urban sprawl may be counterproductive and premature.

Without question, the 2050 Plan has a sound foundation, offering alternative strategies for most of the unincorporated area east of I-75, the county's urban services boundary. Its hope was to insure smart growth and decreased sprawl.

However, amid the fear mongering, it must be noted that traffic congestion usually occurs only in the morning rush hour, during accidents, and at 5 p.m. All cities experience congestion in one form or another. Urban sprawl had its genesis with the interstate highway system, in our dependence on the automobile and with homeowners desiring to live in large homesteads away from downtown areas.

I am not saying to give developers a free pass. But increasing fear is not what we need at the moment. Prudent communities constantly re-evaluate their plans.

By the way, the U.S. Constitution has been amended 27 times since its ratification. Some say this document is the model of cooperative statesmanship and the art of compromise. And the sky hasn't fallen yet.

John Krotec

Sarasota

Workers seek fairness

For most of us, the labor conditions Florida tomato pickers endure and the low wages they receive are a case of out of sight, out of mind. This is why the Coalition of Immokalee Workers is spearheading a "March for Rights, Respect & Fair Food," a two-week, 200-mile journey on foot from Fort Myers to Lakeland.

When the marchers arrive in the Sarasota area this weekend, they and their local supporters will seek to bring greater awareness to their cause, share their indomitable spirit and walk picket lines at two Publix locations.

While other major food providers such as Trader Joe's, Whole Foods Market, Aramark, Sodexo, McDonald's, Subway, Burger King and Chipotle have all found a way to pay tomato pickers an extra penny per pound for their arduous work, and agreed to ensure their recourse to rights monitors rather than be subject to termination for reporting harassment and abuse, Publix refuses to do so.

In fact, Publix executives will not deign to meet with CIW representatives about the issue.

Having visited Immokalee and seen firsthand the impoverished conditions, I and others have joined CIW's righteous cause.

CIW protests are unfailingly civil. There is never unruly behavior, threatening words or profanity. Rather, a positive and uplifting feeling of shared struggle pervades them. This will be on display when the march ends at Publix's corporate headquarters in Lakeland.

As long as Publix won't even consider sitting down with CIW, the company's position lacks merit.

Rabbi Jonathan R. Katz

Sarasota

Wrong target for march

After reading the news article "Tomato farm workers bring protest to Venice," I got to thinking: Shouldn't they be marching on their employers for better wages etc.? Seems that marching on your customers (Publix) is a good way to have them buy there produce elsewhere.

Michael Kolanko

Venice

Homeless still mistreated

Regarding Tom Lyons' Sunday column about the 20 homeless people who were rounded up at 2 a.m. and taken without warning to the Salvation Army:

It is a moral disgrace that so many of us who live in Sarasota County are fortunate and grateful for the abundance of health and wealth in our lives, yet the homeless are treated in such a cruel and negligent manner.

New Police Chief Bernadette DiPino's flippant attitude toward the incident shows that things haven't changed, and probably will not change soon, regarding the police treatment of the homeless.

To quote the old political song "Won't Get Fooled Again": "Meet the new boss, Same as the old boss."

<p>Stop tar-sands pipeline</p><p>I am a trustee of the Jefferson Center, a 10-story affordable-housing facility for low-income Sarasota seniors. We have done what we can to fight climate change by installing a $250,000 high-efficiency air conditioning chiller that has reduced our electric bills by $50,000 per year. In my own home, I have installed solar hot water and a high-efficiency pool pump that have cut $100 a month off my electric bills.</p><p>Such efforts, however, will be canceled out if President Obama decides to approve the Keystone XL pipeline. According to the Sierra Club, Keystone XL would carry tar sands, the dirtiest fossil fuel on the planet, not crude oil. NASA's leading climate scientist, Dr. James Hansen, has said that if the tar sands project gets going, it will be "game over" for Mother Earth.</p><p>Last summer, I saw huge new wind farms in the West. They give me hope that we can still turn from fossil fuels to conservation plus wind and solar. But Keystone XL will undermine these good efforts.</p><p>This awful project must be stopped and only the president can stop it. In his State of the Union speech he said climate change was a top priority. Now we will find out if he really means it.</p><p>James D. Keeney</p><p>Sarasota</p><p>Woodward's little to-do</p><p>Kathleen Parker, a self-described "right of center" columnist, went one bridge too far with her latest article about journalist Bob Woodward's White House run-in. We have read the emails. There was no threat. It's much ado about nothing.</p><p>Woodward is either amazingly thin-skinned or needed attention as a marketing ploy for his latest book. In any case, by making this all about himself, he lost some of the respect he has held in the past.</p><p>Baerbel Kavanaugh</p><p>University Park</p><p>Time to check 2050 plan</p><p>Revisiting Sarasota's 2050 Plan may not be such a bad idea. In a constantly changing environment, sometimes tweaks are needed to even the best-laid plans. At this time, raising public fears about increased traffic congestion and more urban sprawl may be counterproductive and premature.</p><p>Without question, the 2050 Plan has a sound foundation, offering alternative strategies for most of the unincorporated area east of I-75, the county's urban services boundary. Its hope was to insure smart growth and decreased sprawl.</p><p>However, amid the fear mongering, it must be noted that traffic congestion usually occurs only in the morning rush hour, during accidents, and at 5 p.m. All cities experience congestion in one form or another. Urban sprawl had its genesis with the interstate highway system, in our dependence on the automobile and with homeowners desiring to live in large homesteads away from downtown areas.</p><p>I am not saying to give developers a free pass. But increasing fear is not what we need at the moment. Prudent communities constantly re-evaluate their plans.</p><p>By the way, the U.S. Constitution has been amended 27 times since its ratification. Some say this document is the model of cooperative statesmanship and the art of compromise. And the sky hasn't fallen yet.</p><p>John Krotec</p><p>Sarasota</p><p>Workers seek fairness</p><p>For most of us, the labor conditions Florida tomato pickers endure and the low wages they receive are a case of out of sight, out of mind. This is why the Coalition of Immokalee Workers is spearheading a "March for Rights, Respect & Fair Food," a two-week, 200-mile journey on foot from Fort Myers to Lakeland.</p><p>When the marchers arrive in the Sarasota area this weekend, they and their local supporters will seek to bring greater awareness to their cause, share their indomitable spirit and walk picket lines at two Publix locations.</p><p>While other major food providers such as Trader Joe's, Whole Foods Market, Aramark, Sodexo, McDonald's, Subway, Burger King and Chipotle have all found a way to pay tomato pickers an extra penny per pound for their arduous work, and agreed to ensure their recourse to rights monitors rather than be subject to termination for reporting harassment and abuse, Publix refuses to do so.</p><p>In fact, Publix executives will not deign to meet with CIW representatives about the issue.</p><p>Having visited Immokalee and seen firsthand the impoverished conditions, I and others have joined CIW's righteous cause.</p><p>CIW protests are unfailingly civil. There is never unruly behavior, threatening words or profanity. Rather, a positive and uplifting feeling of shared struggle pervades them. This will be on display when the march ends at Publix's corporate headquarters in Lakeland.</p><p>As long as Publix won't even consider sitting down with CIW, the company's position lacks merit.</p><p>Rabbi Jonathan R. Katz</p><p>Sarasota</p><p>Wrong target for march</p><p>After reading the news article "Tomato farm workers bring protest to Venice," I got to thinking: Shouldn't they be marching on their employers for better wages etc.? Seems that marching on your customers (Publix) is a good way to have them buy there produce elsewhere.</p><p>Michael Kolanko</p><p>Venice</p><p>Homeless still mistreated</p><p>Regarding Tom Lyons' Sunday column about the 20 homeless people who were rounded up at 2 a.m. and taken without warning to the Salvation Army:</p><p>It is a moral disgrace that so many of us who live in Sarasota County are fortunate and grateful for the abundance of health and wealth in our lives, yet the homeless are treated in such a cruel and negligent manner.</p><p>New Police Chief Bernadette DiPino's flippant attitude toward the incident shows that things haven't changed, and probably will not change soon, regarding the police treatment of the homeless.</p><p>To quote the old political song "Won't Get Fooled Again": "Meet the new boss, Same as the old boss."</p><p>Larry Beck</p><p>Nokomis</p>